Official: Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated at home

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – An officials says Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence.

Interim Premier Claude Joseph called the killing early Wednesday a “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act.”

First Lady Martine Moïse was shot in the overnight attack and hospitalized.

Even before the assassination, Haiti had grown increasingly unstable and disgruntled under Moïse.

The president ruled by decree for more than two years after the country failed to hold elections and the opposition demanded he step down in recent months.

Joseph said Haiti’s National Police and other authorities had the situation in the Caribbean country under control on Wednesday. There were some reports of ransacking.